Link'd Up, 11/29/09: Never rains, but it pours

Happy Sunday morning, New York sports fans. How about a double dose of trial and a healthy dash of tribulation with your mimosa?

According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nets will fire Lawrence Frank on Monday when the club returns from their West Coast road trip. Multiple sources have reported that general manager Kiki Vandeweghe will assume head coaching duties.

New Jersey, which has lost its last four games by double digits, will try to avoid an NBA record-tying 0-17 start against the Lakers on Sunday. So at this point, it doesn't really matter who coaches the team.

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In other bad news, ESPN.com is reporting Giants quarterback Eli Manning has a stress reaction in his right foot that could easily lead to a season-ending stress fracture. Manning developed the reaction in his cuboid bone because he was compensating for the plantar fasciitis in his right heel he developed earlier this season. Seems like Eli's foot is a pretty good allegory for Big Blue's season: good to bad to ugly to DOA.

Thanksgiving Day Special: Giants-Broncos preview

After you've carved the turkey and stuffed yourself with stuffing, after you've had pie, after the tryptophan has started to set in, all you New York sports fans have one more thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Sprawl out on the couch, hunt around for the remote, and turn on NFL Network (or Channel 9 or 11 if you're in the New York area).

The Giants (6-4) are taking on the Broncos (6-4) in a primetime game with major playoff implications for both the AFC and NFC. Let's break it down.

OVERVIEW: Both teams come in struggling, even though the G-Men broke their four-game losing streak with a 34-31 overtime win over the Falcons Sunday. Though they squandered a two-touchdown lead and have lost running back Ahmad Bradshaw and middle linebacker Antonio Pierce to injuries, Big Blue can at least say they've won a game in November. Not so for Denver, which has lost four straight after a surprising 6-0 start and was pasted, 32-3, by the Chargers four days ago.

The big issue for Denver is at quarterback, where coach Josh McDaniels has to choose between injured starter Kyle Orton and incompetent backup Chris Simms. Both QBs were ineffective against San Diego, combining for just 181 yards and an interception on 33 pass attempts. If Orton's sprained ankle leaves him just as gimpy against Big Blue, the Broncos will have significant problems just putting a drive together, let alone scoring points.

The Giants have their own injury problems. A bulging disk in Pierce's neck has forced him to the sidelines, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of New York's defense. Though backup Chase Blackburn looked good at times, Pierce's absence was keenly felt in the fourth quarter against Atlanta, when Matt Ryan led the Falcons down the field on back-to-back touchdown drives to force overtime. But the G-Men pulled out the W and pulled within a game of the first-place Cowboys in the NFC East. With huge contests against the Cowboys and Eagles on the first two Sundays in December, this is a game the Giants can ill afford to lose. And they know it.

KEY MATCHUP: Broncos offensive line v Giants defensive line
The recipe for neutralizing an injured -- and therefore immobile -- quarterback is very simple: Get pressure, force him to get rid of the ball early, and count up the incompletions and interceptions. The Broncos have been among the league's best at protecting the quarterback, allowing just 19 sacks in 10 games. But if the Giants' D-Line, particularly explosive ends Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, can get to Orton, they can use their linebackers to guard against the run and limit Denver's ability to move the ball.

X-FACTOR: Brandon Jacobs
Earlier this season, Jacobs made a big deal about not performing well enough and not getting enough carries. The numbers back him up; he's averaging just 16.3 carries a game as the team's starting running back, yet he's only picking up four yards a carry, down from his career average of 4.6.

Against Denver, Jacobs will get to show what he can do without Wind, Fire, Water, or any other elemental forces. Bradshaw gamely played with a broken bone in his right foot against the Falcons but sprained his left ankle late in the game. Third-string back Danny Ware will assume some of Bradshaw's duties, but he has been used only sparingly this season, and even then only in third-down situations.

Jacobs is battling an injury of his own; he hurt his right knee in the third quarter against Atlanta and did not return. Though coach Tom Coughlin said the move was a precautionary measure, the big guy is clearly not 100 percent. Throw in the mile-high air for a 264-pound running back who will almost certainly get 20+ carries, and Jacobs has his work cut out for him.

If Jacobs can burn the Denver defense for a couple of big plays and gain 4-5 yards a carry, the Broncos won't be able to drop seven or eight guys into pass coverage (they play a 3-4 defense). Given one-on-one matchups to exploit, Eli Manning will have a big enough day to carry the New York offense to 25+ points.

PREDICTION: Giants 31, Broncos 24. Jacobs does enough to open up the passing game, and the offense scores too many points for a hobbled Orton to keep pace.

The First Annual New York Sports Turkey Award

With Thanksgiving just two days away, families everywhere are preparing turkeys, yams, stuffings, and the occasional terducken (at least at John Madden's house). Turkeys, especially, will be everywhere. But who in New York sports has been dumb enough lately to warrant the not-so-coveted New York Sports Turkey Award?

HONORABLE MENTION:
Mark Sanchez: The Jets' quarterback has moved from "cock of the walk" to "chicken running around with his head cut off" at light speed. After becoming the first rookie QB in NFL history to lead his team to a 3-0 start, Sanchez has completely imploded. In four of the Jets' last seven games, he's thrown at least two picks -- not surprisingly, Gang Green lost all four contests. The coup de grace came Sunday against New England, when he threw four picks and lost a fumble to personally deliver the win to the Pats on a silver platter.

James Dolan: It goes without saying that the Knicks and Rangers' hapless owner has a lifetime membership in the NY Sports Turkey Club. But it turns out he can't even play a round of golf without getting involved in some corrupt business. According to a New York Times article, Dolan enlisted the help of embattled state senator Joseph Bruno to help block the construction of a proposed stadium in Manhattan for the 2012 Olympics. Mayor Mike Bloomberg's failure to get support for the stadium basically killed the bid in its tracks, and he failed in large part because of staunch opposition from the state legislature -- in other words, people like Bruno.

"An assistant to Senator Bruno asked him whether he wanted to join a golf foursome that his son, Kenneth R. Bruno, a lobbyist, had planned with Cablevision executive James L. Dolan," the article reads. "Mr. Dolan had hired the younger Mr. Bruno to help block plans to build an Olympic stadium on Manhattan’s West Side.... Mr. Bruno played in the game. Three months later, opposition in Albany helped doom the stadium project."

So Mr. Dolan, not only can you run a storied basketball franchise into the ground, but you can engage in underhanded deals to stop New York from getting the Olympics. Real proud to call you a fellow New Yorker.

RUNNER UP:
Tom Williams: The Yale football coach doesn't exactly fall into the purview of New York sports. But New Haven is only 82 miles up I-95 from the city, and this gaffe is worthy of a national turkey award.

On Saturday, Yale led archrival Harvard 10-7 with just under three minutes remaining. The Bulldogs faced fourth-and-22 at their own 26, basically the dictionary definition of a punting situation. Instead, Williams called for a fake punt, a run no less.

I don't feel like I need to explain how insane that call is. It's right up there with Napoleon invading Russia.

In a shocker, the "gamble" -- if you can call committing career suicide a gamble -- didn't work. Harvard took over on downs and marched into the end zone, and Yale was left to ponder a 14-10 loss more inexplicable then "Harvard beats Yale, 29-29".

After the game, Williams explained his rationale for the fake punt, saying "The whole idea was to keep our foot on the pedal and not play scared." Well Tom, calling for a fake punt on fourth-and-22 deep in your own territory when you're up three points with three minutes left is indeed not playing scared. It's also not playing football.

Check out good pieces on Williams' decision -- as well as an equally asinine coaching job by LSU's Les Miles -- by the Wall Street Journal's Darren Everson and ESPN's Pat Forde.

TURKEY-EST OF THE TURKEYS:
(drumstick -- er, drumroll please...)

Nate Robinson: The Knicks' guard is shooting just 35 percent from the field this season. But after Saturday's win over the Nets, Robinson can boast of a perfect shooting percentage on his own basket.

That's right, his own basket. With half a second left in the first quarter, Nate thought it would be funny to chuck the ball towards his own hoop rather than try a buzzer-beater on the more conventional basket -- the other team's. In true Turkey of the Year fashion, Robinson's one-handed heave hit nothing but net, swishing through the hoop as the 37 or so fans in the stands looked on in shock.

The referees ruled Robinson released his wrong-way beauty after the buzzer, nullifying the shot. Even if he had gotten the shot off in time, it would not have counted, as it is against NBA rules to shoot on your own basket. I assume the reason the league has the rule at all is to guard against match-fixing, but as a Knicks fan I'm glad it covers subzero IQ's as well.

For his part, Robinson claimed he was just fooling around and waited until after the buzzer to shoot on his own basket. Even if that's true, his actions display a lack of professionalism and interest in the game itself that has no place anywhere in the NBA, much less a 3-10 team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2004. But it's just as likely Robinson thought he'd have some fun, didn't know the buzzer had gone off, and simply didn't think he'd actually make the shot.

Only Nate really knows the answer. But whatever it is, Mr. Nate Robinson, you have gone above and beyond the call of stupidity. You, sir are the 2009 New York Sports Turkey Award winner!

Now give all those Knicks' season-ticket holders their money back.

The Rundown: The Giants' 50/50 lifeline

The day before Columbus Day.

That's how long it had been since the Giants put one in the win column. So Sunday's 34-31 overtime victory over the Falcons was cause for celebration, a quality win that puts the G-Men back in the thick of the NFC East race.

But anyone who actually watched the game has to have a sour taste in their mouth, because the reality is the Giants did everything wrong down the stretch until they were bailed out by the flip of a coin.

For 50 minutes, Tom Coughlin's squad did everything right. Eli Manning shredded Atlanta's porous pass defense, hitting wideouts, tight ends, fullbacks, security guards and hot dog vendors at will. The Giants defense kept the Falcons out of the end zone on a key third-quarter drive, and Big Blue held a 31-17 lead with seven minutes left in regulation.

At this point, the Falcons needed this scenario -- and only this scenario -- just to force overtime.

Atlanta touchdown
Giants don't score or hold the ball
Atlanta touchdown
Giants don't score before end of regulation

And that's exactly what happened. For the second straight game, the Giants choked away a fourth-quarter lead at home. The only difference between Sunday's collapse and the 21-20 loss to San Diego was the G-Men had a bigger lead this time, and the Falcons could only tie them.

This week's edition of "Giants Collapse" featured many of the same themes as two weeks ago: a prevent defense unable to stop the 15-yard pass, Justin Tuck hobbling off on the final drive, and repeated appearances of the Eli Manning Face. But once again, the central storyline was the atrocious play-calling of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

Gilbride is best-known as the architect of the Houston Oilers' "Run & Shoot" offense in the early 1990s, so you'd think he would know when to take the blinders off his offense. But in each of the last two games, he has gone conservative with the Giants winning late in the game. Last week, it led to a late field goal instead of a game-clinching touchdown. This week, it led to a quick punt that gave Matt Ryan oodles of time to bring his offense down the field for a game-tying touchdown.

Here's a quick breakdown of the last four plays from the Giants' last drive in regulation.

Eli to Kevin Boss for 26 yards (Boss steps out of bounds to stop the clock)
Eli dump off to Boss for no gain
Ahmad Bradshaw dive for no gain (ATL timeout)
Eli incomplete pass on attempted WR screen (stops clock)

Even the one positive play -- Boss' big catch -- had a gray lining because Boss didn't cut back to the middle of the field and keep the clock moving. But it's the next three plays that kill me. When you've shredded an opposing pass defense all day and have an opportunity to end the game, you take it. You don't suddenly go into the fetal position and rely on your defense when that exact strategy failed in the last game. Yet that's exactly what Gilbride did.

To be fair, the Giants moved the ball with ease once the overtime coin toss went their way. Eli, who threw for a career-high 384 yards, exploited hapless cornerback Chris Houston and found Hakeem Nicks over the middle on a quick slant on 3rd-and-2. A 29-yard strike to Mario Manningham on the next play put the Giants in field goal range, and Lawrence Tynes nailed the game-winner.

The Giants have a quick turnaround for their Thanksgiving Day game at Denver, but the Broncos' 32-3 loss to the Chargers suggests they may be ripe for the picking. Maybe this time Gilbride and Coughlin will let the offense play like men instead of mice in the final minutes.

NEW YORK JETS: Though the Jets' record changed from 4-5 to 4-6 after a 31-14 loss to the Pats, their story remains the same. The Jets have a pretty good defense that was very good before the loss of massive nose tackle Kris Jenkins, a pretty good running game that was very good before the loss of Leon Washington, and a mistake-prone rookie quarterback. Mark Sanchez is no Matt Ryan. The 3-0 start was a fluke. We have returned to our regularly scheduled programming.

NEW YORK KNICKS: The Knicks actually played well all week, beating the Pacers and the winless Nets and battling the Celtics for 53 minutes before falling to Kevin Garnett's buzzer-beating jumper in overtime. Their defense appears to be headed in the right direction, and Al Harrington has emerged as a legitimate offensive go-to guy. But when I read Harrington's comments after the Boston loss -- "It just goes to show that we're a very good team" -- I almost choked on my coffee.

Easy, Al. Your team is 3-10. You're being outscored by an average of 6.5 points per game. Your three wins are against New Orleans (6-9), Indiana (5-6), and New Jersey (0-13). Maybe don't call yourself "very good" until you beat at least one team with a winning record.

NEW JERSEY NETS: The infamous record approacheth. Now that New Jersey has lost to the
"very good" Knicks (see what I did there?) they have a slew of good Western Conference opponents between them and 0-18.

If the Nets want to avoid the worst start in NBA history, they'll have to beat either Denver, Portland, Sacramento, the Lakers, or Dallas. Only Sacramento is under .500, and the other four teams all made the playoffs last year. If Lawrence Frank's squad can't knock off the Kings the day after Thanksgiving, expect the 2009-10 Nets to be the new standard for season-opening futility.

NEW YORK RANGERS: Before Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Panthers, Vinny Prospal said players other than he and Marian Gaborik needed to contribute more offense. The duo then proceeded to provide the entire offense in defeat, scoring one goal apiece.

The irony intrigued me, so I took a look at the Blueshirts' offensive stats this season to see if Prospal had a point. Turns out he could have written a dissertation on the subject. Gaborik and Prospal have 29.5 percent of the team's points (51 of 173). That's two players out of 21 providing almost a third of the offense. Gaborik has 25 percent of the team's goals (16 of 64) by himself despite missing a pair of games to injury in late October.

Considering that center and right- and left-wingers are supposed to provide the offense and Gaborik and Prospal are part of the first line, those percentages are somewhat oversimplified. But they're also part of the reason the Rangers are 4-9-1 since Oct. 17.

AND ANOTHER THING... How 'bout those Orangemen? Possessing a massive "home-court" advantage, Syracuse ran North Carolina off the floor with a 20-1 second-half spurt and won the Coaches v Cancer Classic 87-71. The one point I should have mentioned in my post on the Orange was the substantial alumni base Syracuse has in New York City. Orange-clad alumni fill the stands at Madison Square Garden every time Syracuse plays there, and against schools like North Carolina, Jim Boeheim's squad has a significant cheering-section advantage. It showed on Friday night.

Link'd Up, 11/20/09: No Iverson for Knicks

According to ESPN, the Knicks will pass on pursuing free agent Allen Iverson. When asked why the Knicks chose not to go after the aging superstar, GM Donnie Walsh said: "We feel (it) could hurt our development of the future."

In other words, it could further screw up the team and make LeBron James/Dwyane Wade leery about signing with New York next summer. Understandable, since Walsh has admitted the Knicks are in the early part of a rebuilding process. That said, I'm sure Iverson at MSG would have spiked attendance and renewed interest in a team that hasn't been interesting -- for the right reasons -- in almost 10 years. Guess I'll go back to watching ESPN Classic replays of the 1994 playoffs again.

Monsters of MSG

Heard a funny story today about a New York team that actually plays well in New York. At first, I laughed it off. "Preposterous," I thought. "The Knicks are 2-9 and headed for the sub-basement of the NBA. St. John's hasn't sniffed the NCAA tournament since 2003 and hasn't actually made the Big Dance since the year before that. Even Manhattan has fallen on hard times. What Empire State team could possibly be playing well in New York?"

Turns out I was wrong. Now I'm seeing red -- Orange, actually.

From winning the longest NCAA game in recent memory to two Big East tournament championships this decade to a blowout upset win on Thursday night, Syracuse has made Madison Square Garden its home away from home. Led by rapidly aging coach Jim Boeheim, Orangemen from Carmelo Anthony to Gerry McNamara to Jonny Flynn have taken the Big Apple by storm and left the rest of the Big East in their wake.

Syracuse's latest MSG triumph, a 95-73 pasting of No. 12 Cal, propelled the No. 24 Orangemen into the Coaches v Cancer Classic's championship game Friday night against defending NCAA champion North Carolina. Boeheim's squad led from the outset, overwhelming the Bears with an offensive barrage that included nine 3-pointers and a ridiculous 57.1 field goal percentage. Redshirt sophomore Scoop Jardine led the way with a career-high 22 points.

Jardine is just the latest in a line of Orangemen to have their best games at the Garden. Though he was a key player on the 2003 team that won the Big Dance, McNamara's finest moments came in the 2006 Big East tournament, which Syracuse came into as an NCAA bubble team. But Gerry hit impossible shots on back-to-back days, a running, game-winning three-pointer against Cincinnati and a game-tying trey against Connecticut to keep Syracuse's NCAA hopes alive. The Orange went on to win the Big East tournament -- their second straight conference tourney crown -- and earn an automatic bid to the Big Dance.

The Orange played Connecticut in the conference tournament quarterfinals again last season, but this time one overtime wasn't enough. In a marathon game that actually seemed to go on forever, Syracuse needed six overtimes to overcome the Huskies, 127-117. In three of the first five extra periods, the Orange trailed with 20 seconds left. Each time, they rallied to even the score.

I watched that epic contest with a group of friends, and we had made plans for our Friday night after the game. Suffice to say we didn't make it out.

On this Friday night, Syracuse will be significant underdogs to the No. 4 Tar Heels, who have won 10 straight dating back to last season and overcame a late rally by a tough Ohio State team in their semifinal victory. But in this building where the Orange have had so many triumphs, can you really bet against them?

Rod Thorn's dilemma

Since 2000, the New Jersey Nets have had two coaches: Byron Scott, and Lawrence Frank. As of today, one of them has already been fired this season.

Guess what? It wasn't Frank.

Amazingly, the Nets' coach wasn't the first NBA head banana on the chopping block despite two consecutive losing seasons and a dismal 0-11 start. While Scott's New Orleans Hornets were a slightly better 3-6 when he was canned, he had the fatal combination of the worst home loss in postseason history and his players blatantly quitting on him. No coach survives that, even one two years removed from the Western Conference semifinals.

Frank's situation is a little more complicated -- or if you're Thorn, a lot more complicated. At this point, the Nets' GM must spend most of his time thinking about a different time and place. Namely, Brooklyn and 2010/11/whenever they actually break ground on a stadium. The biggest upsides for the Nets right now are next year's stacked free agent class (LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson) and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov's massive bank account. If Prokhorov can provide enough cash to get Bruce Ratner the stadium he wants in Brooklyn and a marquee free agent next summer, the Nets might be a part of the national discussion outside of Leno and Letterman (jokes are almost too easy, fellas). Until then, they will be a bottom-tier franchise with no playoff aspirations.

Which brings us back to Frank. Since he took over for Scott in the middle of 2004, the pint-sized coach has seen his team go from good to mediocre to downright awful. The last two seasons brought identical 34-48 records, and that was before this year's NBADL-level squad. Thing is, most of it isn't his fault. Frank has watched Vince Carter and the two Jasons (Kidd and Richardson) get shipped out the door in return for admittedly talented point guard Devin Harris and... well... Bueller... Bueller...

(Feel free to point out that Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee were acquired for Carter. Suffice to say I'm underwhelmed by both.)

With Harris sidelined for all but two games so far and second-leading Chris Douglas-Roberts laid up with swine flu -- as if the Nets hadn't already suffered enough -- Frank has relied on talented second-year big man Brook Lopez and a cadre of supporters. The result is a team that scores 84.4 points per game despite having eight guys averaging at least 9.6 ppg.

If I'm Thorn, I see what Frank can do over a full season with this cast of misfits. See if he can work the same magic with Lopez as he did with Nenad Kristic before his injuries -- and Lopez has a much higher ceiling. Find out if he can turn the rookie Douglas-Roberts into a legitimate scoring threat once he gets out of quarantine. See if Frank can somehow win 20 games.

What he shouldn't do is follow PTI's advice and turn this Saturday's game against the Knicks into Frank's Waterloo. New York is eminently beatable even for the Nets, and this will probably be Frank's best shot to avoid the worst start in NBA history -- the dreaded 0-18. But even if New Jersey loses, Frank should be given a chance to get the most out of his young team. Can him after the season if you don't like the results.

For now, Rod, just sit back and watch. Or don't, if it's too painful. Just don't pull the trigger too quickly on Lawrence Frank.

The Rundown: The race to the bottom

As the saying goes, it was a banner weekend in New York sports. The Yankees clinched the AL East by sweeping the Red Sox. The Giants and Jets are both 3-0 for the first time since 2000. And the Knicks made themselves borderline watchable next season by re-signing their two key free agents.

I wrote that on September 27. And New York sports fans still have nothing to complain about after the Yankees' latest World Series title. But boy, does it seem like a long time until pitchers and catchers.

How bad is it? Let's compare.

NEW YORK JETS: Then: 3-0. Now: 4-5. The Jets may not have the best offense, defense, special teams, poise, or coach in the league, but they are certainly the class of the NFL at finding new and interesting ways to lose. Four weeks ago, it was a stalled offense and an overtime field goal that turned 318 rushing yards into a trivia answer. Last week, a 352-104 advantage in total yards wasn't enough to overcome two kickoff returns for touchdowns -- in the same quarter. And this week, the Jets did just enough to lose on the final play.

If Braylon Edwards holds onto Mark Sanchez's pass on a two-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter, maybe the Jets don't fall to the Jaguars 24-22, their fifth defeat in six games. And if Maurice Jones-Drew doesn't take a knee just before scoring a touchdown so Jacksonville can run out the clock before kicking the game-winning field goal, maybe the loss doesn't get its unique "fantasy owners are outraged" spin. But the real story is Gang Green's inability to overcome injuries to its biggest and fastest players.

First, 360-pound nose tackle and resident behemoth Kris Jenkins tore his ACL in the overtime loss to the Bills, ending his season and rubbing salt in the wound of a devastating loss. The following week, running back and kick returner Leon Washington broke his right fibula so badly the bone broke through the skin.

Jenkins and Washington are, in a word, irreplaceable to the Jets. No one jams up opponents' running games better than the four-time Pro Bowler Jenkins, and Washington filled three roles: spelling Thomas Jones, catching passes out the backfield, and blowing by opponents on kick returns.

The New York media has been all over the Jets' high-profile rookies, quarterback Mark Sanchez and coach Rex Ryan, for their inexperienced decisions. But Sanchez and Ryan are both in their first year. They will get better. Injuries to Jenkins and Washington, on the other hand, mean it's time to start looking to 2010.

NEW YORK GIANTS: Then: 3-0. Now: 5-4. They had a bye week. Not much to talk about. Yet that didn't stop Mike Francesca (WFAN), Steve Serby (New York Post) and Gary Myers (Daily News) from loudly proclaiming the G-Men won't make the playoffs.

Four losses in a row make that prediction an easy column. I prefer the slightly more tempered approach. Let's see how the Giants do against Atlanta on Sunday. Both teams are 5-4, so for all intensive purposes this is a playoff elimination game. Win it, and Eli Manning and Co. might just shut up the talking heads for a week.

NEW YORK KNICKS: Then: 0-0. Now: 1-9. The Knicks had some compelling subplots going into the season -- how David Lee and Nate Robinson would perform with their one-year contracts, whether Danilo Gallinari was ready for the NBA, if the Knicks could actually win 35 games.

Six weeks later, here's what we have: How much Lee gets his shot blocked, how LeBron James is coming to the Knicks because he's wearing special sneakers with the Yankees' logo, and whether the Knicks will sign the Artist Formerly Known as Allen Iverson. That should help distract from the Knicks' 15-67 record at the end of the season.

NEW JERSEY NETS: Then: 0-0. Now 0-11. I hate to do this to Nets fans -- at this point, they're counting the days until 2010 free agency and hoping Mikhail Prokhorov wasn't one of the villains in Air Force One. But here are the highlights from the Nets' most heartbreaking loss in a season full of losses. Literally. I mean, they've only had losses.

No team has gone worse than 0-17. If the Nets can't break through before then, loss No. 18 would come Dec. 2 against Dallas. Before you mark your calendars, remember this: The Nets host the Knicks this Saturday. If anyone can get New Jersey off the schnide, it's the Knicks.

If you consider yourself a New York sports fan, please do not watch that game. I'm saying this for your sake.

Yankees '09 In Review: Stacking up with the best of 'em

In case you missed the confetti and screaming fans downtown on Friday -- and the previous 177 games, for that matter -- the Yankees won their 27th World Series title last week. They steamrolled through the playoffs with an 11-4 record, trailed in a series for all of one game and beat arguably the two best major league teams not in pinstripes (Angels and Phillies).

I could spend the next 2,000 words tracing the "arc" of the Yankees' season, but there's not much of an arc on which to wax eloquent. The Yankees started in a trough, turned it around in May when A-Rod came back, went into the All-Star Break hot, came out hotter, grabbed first place in the AL East
on July 21, and kept trending upward all the way to the parade. That's the honest -- albeit simplistic -- explanation.

OK, OK. Let's explicate that a little. There were two major keys to the Bombers' season. First was that all four major offseason acquisitions -- C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher -- thrived in their first season with the Yanks. Yes, even Swisher thrived. When your No. 8 hitter has an OPS of .869 and the MLB average for all players is .751, just forget his nightmare postseason and enjoy how stacked your lineup is.

Of the newbies, Sabathia made the biggest difference in the playoffs, giving the Yankees their first dominant ace since Roger Clemens. At 29, C.C. has plenty more good years left in him. Along with Mark Buehrle and maybe Roy Halladay, he's got the best shot among active pitchers at 300 wins, and his seven-year contract means Yankee fans should get to see a lot of them.

The second key to the season was A-Rod's epiphany. After admitting to steroid use, losing his wife and dealing with a possible career-ending hip injury in the same year, Rodriguez said he "hit rock bottom". Everyone knows his subsequent revelation: Remove himself from the spotlight, put the team first, take the pressure off himself, become a better teammate... you get the idea. We've heard sportscasters and media pundits discuss it all season.

The general reaction from people has been, "It's about time" or "Finally, he stopped being a self-centered moron". Few people have discussed or even acknowledged how hard it must have been for A-Rod to reinvent himself. For the better part of his life, A-Rod has been treated like baseball royalty, feted and hailed as a baseball god. A $252-million contract and adoring fans bases in two cities before the age of 30 will go to anybodies head. Only New York fans aren't forgiving, not for anybody, and especially not for a pretty boy who makes more that most of us could ever dream of for playing a game. So when A-Rod flopped in the postseason three years in a row, the fans got harsher, which increased the pressure, which made him play worse, which made the fans get harsher. And so it went.

In order to "turn things around" this spring, A-Rod had to basically humble himself before the jeering masses and simply take the beating he got in the press and at every opposing ballpark. Sure, it's not in the same universe as what a guy like Jackie Robinson went through, but you can't tell me it wasn't excruciating for a guy who was programmed to be egotistical to bow his head, admit his mistakes and get back to work.

A regular season of 30 homers and 100 RBIs in just 124 games was impressive enough. His postseason heroics were simply sublime. Other than Mariano Rivera -- who at this point has reached demigod status in my book -- no one did more than A-Rod to bring home the title.

(Honorable mention: How 'bout that Derek Jeter? The mainstream media writes him off before the season and he puts up these numbers. Jeter says he wants to play until he's 43. After a season like this, it's hard to argue with him.)

Good enough arc for you? Now for the real fun stuff.

Several local papers wrote an article summarizing each of the Yankees' 27 championship teams. Some even ranked them. And invariably, three teams came to the fore: 1927, 1939, 1998. Let's see how the 2009 edition stacks up against each of those teams.

1. 2009 v 1927
Ah, Murderers' Row. There's something about that saying that strikes fear into the heart of opposing players. As dangerous as A-Rod and Teixeira were in the middle of the lineup, something tells me they won't have their own moniker in 2101. When people think "Murderer's Row," the think Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

That year, Ruth and Gehrig combined for 107 home runs, 339 RBIs, 307 runs, 81 doubles, 246 walks, 864 total bases and 410 hits. I'm not convinced the Pittsburgh Pirates did better as a team this season. The numbers speak for themselves, and a supporting cast of Tony Lazzeri, Bob Meusel and Earle Combs gave the '27 teams a lineup far superior to this year's team -- and I called the '09 lineup "stacked".

All five of the '27 starters had at least 10 wins, though ace Waite Hoyt didn't have the track record Sabathia does. Miller Huggins' club even had a bona fide reliever, Wilcy Moore. Moore picked up 13 saves, which in those days was akin to 50 today.

That squad went 110-44 and swept the Pirates in the Series. Their lineup may not have as good top to bottom; every spot in the order was dangerous this year, at least in the regular season. But if you added Rivera to the '27 roster, that team wins 125 games in the regular season without breaking a sweat. Of course, Rivera wouldn't have been allowed to play back then. But that's a different story.

2. 2009 v 1939

The '39 club had just one hitting superstar: Joe DiMaggio, who hit .381 with 30 homers and 126 RBIs in one of his best seasons ever. He was surrounded by not-so-household names like Charlie "King Kong" Keller and Red Rolfe. Behind the plate was Bill Dickey, the first in a long line of great Yankee catchers. Overall, though, this lineup didn't have the overall punch of the current Bombers. And yet they averaged 6.40 runs per game, while the '09 Yanks averaged just 5.65.

At this point, it's worth saying that it's hard to compare eras. Hideki Matsui wouldn't have had a place in '39 even if he were white because there was no DH. Even Jeter, he of mixed parentage, doesn't get past Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

Where the '39 team definitely outclassed this year's club is starting pitching, where they were literally twice as deep. Seven different pitchers recorded double-digit win totals, and each pitched at least 120 innings. Hall of Famers Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez anchored the septet, which finished with a combined 91-34 record.

Once again, they didn't have Rivera, and they didn't have an explosive combination at the top of the lineup like this year's Jeter-Johnny Damon combo. But 106-45 and a sweep of the Reds in the World Series puts them ahead of this year's club as well.

3. 2009 v 1998

By far the most interesting comparison, since both teams played in almost the same era (2009 was ostensibly minus the steroids). The teams also share the Dynasty Boys -- Jeter, Rivera, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte -- and current manager Joe Girardi backed up Posada on the '98 squad.

The '98 team didn't have anyone to go longball for longball with Teixeira and A-Rod. But Jeter actually had a better statistical season that year, and Scott Brosius provided the back-of-the-lineup boost this year's team got from Swisher. Both teams had second basemen that drove fans crazy, Chuck Knoblauch because of his occasional throws into the stands and Robinson Cano because of his apparent lack of effort. As a batting order, though, the '09 teams is superior, if only because the '98 squad platooned Shane Spencer and Ricky Ledee in left field.

What made the '98 team was pitching. The starting rotation had Pettitte, David Wells, David Cone, and from May on, Orlando Hernandez (El Duque!!!). Hideki Irabu was a serviceable fifth starter during the regular season, and at no point did the Bombers have to piece together starts with Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin types.

What's more, the bullpen was better, maybe the best of all time. Rivera was hitting his prime and was unhittable from June on, and Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton were a nasty lefty-righty setup combo. It helped that Joe Torre didn't have to use converted starters in the bullpen, like Girardi did with Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. In a short series, this club was as hard to beat as any team in the last 20 years.

At the end of the day, these Yankees don't match up to any of the three monoliths. But who cares? They won the World Series. That's all that matters.

The 1998 team headed into the offseason with significant personnel questions, most notably whether to re-sign Bernie Williams (which, thank God, they eventually did). And the winter saw a huge trade that sent Wells packing and brought Clemens in.

In the coming months, we will undoubtedly see the same thing happen to these defending champs. Some players will be re-signed (Damon? Pettitte?), others will be let go (Matsui?). And there will be at least one move no one saw coming.

But if you ever lose faith, remember what happened to the post-1998 team. They won it all in 1999 and 2000. This team has the makings of dynasty, so get ready to sit back and enjoy.

For now, I can only tip my cap to a fantastic season, a scintillating postseason, and a 27th title. As Mel Brooks said: "It's good to be the king."

The Rundown: How to lose a season in 194 seconds

I heard some team in the Bronx won their 27th championship or something. Really big deal, champagne everywhere, "Canyon of Heroes", all that good stuff.

But I also recall writing 15,000+ words on the Yankees in the last month. And I feel a leviathan of a season wrapup coming tomorrow. So let's take a moment to review the New York sports landscape as it will be for the next five months.

NEW YORK GIANTS: The difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs is the last 3:14 of Big Blue's gut-wrenching 21-20 loss to the Chargers on Sunday. The Giants' fourth loss in a row was worse than all the others because they dominated so many facets of the game and because of the way they lost.

When cornerback Terrell Thomas intercepted Philip Rivers and returned the pick to the San Diego four-yard line, the G-Men were on the verge of icing the game. They had their biggest of the season in their hands. And they (figuratively) dropped the ball.

Playoff teams put the ball in the end zone and make it a two-score game. The Giants didn't. Playoff teams stop opponents' do-or-die touchdown drives in the final two minutes. The Giants didn't. Playoff teams find a way to make that one game-ending play to put them over the top. The Giants didn't. It's that simple.

The blame extends from the players all the way across the coaching staff. When a costly holding penalty on first-and-goal pushed the offense back to the 14, Tom Coughlin took the ball out of Eli Manning's hands and played for the field goal. Wide receiver screen on first down for no gain. Inside handoff to Brandon Jacobs for 5 yards. Inside handoff to Brandon Jacobs for 5 yards.

No, I didn't black out and type the same sentence twice. The Giants' calls on second and third down were exactly the same, designed to force the Chargers to burn timeouts and predicated on the belief that Big Blue's D could keep Rivers and Co. out of the end zone. Coughlin put his faith in a defense that had allowed 24 points in the final two minutes of the first half in the preceding three games. In other words, a defense that clearly has issues stopping the two-minute drill.

When Rivers got the ball back, he sliced through the G-Men like a hot knife through butter (pardon the cliche, but that's how it was). First-year defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan repeatedly brought the blitz even though the Giants' best blitzing linebacker, Michael Boley, was hampered after reaggravating a meniscus injury in his right knee (for God's sake, he had hobbled off the field the drive before and was clearly not 100 percent). The blitzing exposed the Giants' overmatched secondary and led to consecutive big plays that took San Diego from the Giants' 39 to the end zone. On the touchdown pass, star receiver Vincent Jackson beat crotchety cornerback Corey Webster to the corner of the end zone even though Webster had safety help over the middle. Easy throw and catch, touchdown, game over.

The Giants won't be able to lose again this week -- they have a bye. Maybe two weeks off will give them time to figure things out before games against Atlanta (5-3) and Denver (7-1) in a five-day span.

NEW YORK YANKEES: Always love to see a good parade, so I thought I'd throw this gem from the New York Times' Tyler Kepner in here.

NEW YORK JETS: The Jets had the week off to contemplate how to turn a 4-4 start into a playoff berth, get Braylon Edwards more familiar with the playbook, and insert ligaments from a cadaver into Kris Jenkins' leg to get him back on the field. OK, I made one of those up. Seriously, though, they really, really miss Jenkins in the middle of that defensive line.

NEW YORK RANGERS: Whenever I go camping in the summer, a swarm of mosquitoes inevitably descends upon me and saps my energy bite by bite. Assorted injuries are doing the exact same thing to the Rangers. In Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Flames, the Blueshirts lost two centers -- captain Chris Drury to a concussion and Brandon Dubinsky to a broken hand. Starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist is still day-to-day with a "minor injury." And though offensive machine Marian Gaborik is healthy now, he missed two games after a collision in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes. It's hard to fault the Rangers for going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games -- they simply haven't been at full strength.

NEW YORK KNICKS: What can you say? The best thing about watching Knicks games is listening to Walt Frazier find new pairs of verbs that rhyme and be excited about it. Did you know no Knick player has 10+ assists in a game yet? How they beat New Orleans, I don't know. At least they have more wins than the Nets (1 to 0, but still).

World Series Wrap: Meditations in a Celebration

I'm a sports fan, and I'm a New Yorker. I was born here, I live here and I follow the sports teams here with a rabid passion. And I can rattle off the list below on command.

1994 Rangers
1996 Yankees
1998 Yankees
1999 Yankees
2000 Yankees
2007 Giants

Those are the teams that won it all, the teams that made every postseason heartbreak, every last-place finish and every Knicks season in the last decade worth it. These are my championship teams.

After seven months, 177 games and countless hours in front of the television, it's finally time to add the 2009 Yankees to that list.

The Bombers captured their 27th World Series title with a 7-3 win over the defending champion Phillies in Game 6 (and it couldn't have come against a better sports town... not really). Andy Pettitte got the win -- extending his MLB records to 18 postseason victories and six series-clinching wins, including all three this postseason -- and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui blasted a home run and a double on his way to six RBIs.

I'll have a complete look at the season that was later today. For now, here are five points from Game 6, one for each ring now owned by the Dynasty Boys.

--Since Pedro Martinez's infamously called the Yankees his "daddy" in 2004, derisive chants of "WHO'S YOUR DAD-DY?" have rung down from the Yankee Stadium stands. After Wednesday's game, I think we have the answer: Matsui.

Godzilla continued to completely own Pedro, blasting a two-run homer and a two-run single to single-handedly give the Bombers a 4-1 lead and chase Martinez. For the series, Matsui was perfect against Pedro, going 4-4 with a walk, two singles, two home runs and five RBIs. For his career, Matsui is 9-for-19 against Pedro in the postseason. And for those of you who weren't at Fenway Park on September 24, 2004, it was Matsui's game-tying home run off Pedro that started a go-ahead rally and led to Pedro "daddy" comment in the first place. So I guess Matsui was his papa all along.

For the series, Matsui hit .615 with three homers and eight RBIs. Those kind of numbers make you the first full-time DH to win a World Series MVP. Matsui's has now made his playoff bones on two continents; he won a Japan Series MVP for the Yomiuri Giants in 2000.

--Anyone 21 and over may fondly remember Graeme Lloyd, the left-handed specialist who was so effective against Rusty Greer, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko in the 1996 postseason. Well, Damaso Marte is this year's Graeme Lloyd.

In fact, Marte was much better than the swashbuckling Australian. Beginning with Game 2 of the ALCS, Marte retired 12 consecutive hitters over seven appearances, culminating with sick strikeouts of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard on Wednesday. Not bad, considering Utley's record-tying five World Series homers and Howard's 45 jacks in the regular season.

Saying Marte struck out the Phillies' Murderer's Row doesn't even do it justice. He did it on six pitches, three to each, all strikes. That's pretty much perfect.

--You can't say enough about how gritty Pettitte's performance was. Three runs, four hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings doesn't look like much on a stat sheet, but anyone who saw the game knows how good it was. The veteran southpaw cruised into the sixth, allowing only one hard-hit ball, a triple by Carlos Ruiz in the third. His backdoor cutter was falling over the outside corner, his accuracy was impeccable and his concentration never wavered. Only when he tired in the sixth did he lose his command, walking Utley and surrendering a opposite-field home run to Howard (on a good outside pitch at that). A double by Raul Ibanez later in the inning finally chased Pettitte, who left to more than a standing ovation.

The Yankee Stadium fans chanted his day during the Ibanez at-bat, sensing that one way or another, this inning would be his last. It was reminiscent of the crowd's tribute to Paul O'Neill in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series, his final game at Yankee Stadium. Pettitte has earned a similar place in pinstripe lore, and if this win was really his last hurrah, I can only tip my cap to one of the all-time Yankee greats and the best postseason starting pitcher I have ever seen.

--Watching the postgame analysis on ESPN, I heard Bobby Valentine provide a rare grain of insight among the cacophony of voices. "The Yankees always play 'New York, New York' after wins," he said, "and Joe Girardi should be singing 'I Did It My Way' right now."

I was struck by the reference to two great Frank Sinatra songs (though the title of the latter is wrong -- no 'I did it') and the fact that Girardi did indeed do it his way. In my last post, I wrote that Girardi had gone out on a limb in throwing a three-man rotation in the ALCS and World Series, rolling the dice with a trio of tired arms. You know what Pettitte, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett gave him in their 12 starts? 11 starts of four or fewer earned runs, 11 that went at least five innings, and a 6-2 record. All three went on short rest in the final three games of the World Series, Sabathia and Pettitte pitched well enough to put the Yanks in position to win, and the bats did the rest.

Girardi definitely gambled, but in the end he rode a talented team just the right amount. Pretty good for a fellow Northwestern graduate.

--When I said Pettitte was the best postseason starting pitcher I had ever seen, I included the caveat because Mariano Rivera is the best playoff pitcher in history in addition to being the best reliever of all time. The moment Rivera jogged in from the bullpen with a 7-3 lead in the eighth inning was the first time I allowed myself to smile and admit to myself, "Hey, we're really gonna win this thing." Mo had three more postseason saves in the Fall Classic and was on the mound for the end of all four Yankee wins. He allowed just one run all postseason and was five for five in save opportunities.

To top it all off, he delivered the best quote of the postgame celebration. Grinning like an idiot, he quipped to the Yankee Stadium crowd, "I was going to retire before this, but now I think I'll come back for another five years."

The crowd roared in approval -- obviously. You know what, Mariano? You pitch 75 percent as well as you did this season and you can close until you're 50. And you can keep recording the final out in the World Series and starting the victory mosh pit (we're at four and counting).

Much, much more to come later today. For now, bask in it, Yankee fans. Nine years never felt so long.

The Rundown: Girardi's All-In Shove

Anyone who's ever watched ESPN in the wee hours of the morning has seen reruns of the World Series of Poker, which the Worldwide Leader milks to the tune of 50 or so episodes every year. It's all tournament play, and the most exciting moments come when a player is low in chips and desperate and utters those two unforgettable words: All in.

It's usually a move for those low in chips (or, for the poker savants out there, for the big stacks who want to bully people with fewer chips). It's as high risk as it gets, because if it backfires, you're done.

It's not often done when you're ahead and have everything to lose. But with a 3-1 lead in the World Series, it's exactly what Joe Girardi did  .

Entering Monday's Game 5, the Yankee manager had two choices. He could stick with his pre-Series plan of a three-man rotation and throw A.J. Burnett on three days' rest (with Andy Pettitte and C.C. Sabathia slated for equally short rest in a possible Game 6 and 7). Or he could start the mediocre-but-consistent Chad Gaudin, who was 2-0 in six starts with the Yankees but hadn't started a game since Sept. 28.

Girardi chose Option A, and so far it has backfired. Burnett, often a head case on the mound, was awful in a series-clinching game on short rest, giving up six runs in 2+ dreadful innings. By the time he'd gotten an out in the first, the Phillies had three runs.

At this point, I'm going to forget Game 5 -- with Phillies' ace Cliff Lee going, the Yankees were not expected to win. But Girardi placed his team's championship hopes on three -- and now two -- very tired arms.

Girardi hasn't said anything, but we all know 37-year-old Andy Pettitte will go in Wednesday's Game 6 on three days' rest. For his career, Pettitte is just 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA on short rest, and most of those starts came before his mid-30s. The Phillies will throw Pedro Martinez on full rest, and if the Yankees' old nemesis duplicates his Game 2 numbers (six innings, three runs) expect the Phillies to win.

That would leave Game 7 for Sabathia, the Yanks' bulldog of an ace who is 1-0 this postseason on short rest (and would be 2-0 if not for Joba Chamberlain allowing a game-tying home run to light-hitting Pedro Feliz in Game 4). Whether Phillies' skipper Charlie Manuel throws unproven lefty J.A. Happ or 2009 postseason burnout/"Can't wait for it to end" Cole Hamels, the Yanks should have an advantage with Sabathia.

But every game is different. And Sabathia has now thrown a career-high 266.1 innings in 2009. And it would be an awfully long offseason for Girardi if the Phillies came back from the brink and won the series off the Yanks' weary arms.

NEW YORK GIANTS: Paging Michael Strahan. Paging Michael Strahan. The New York Giants are requesting your presence on the defensive line. And if you could get Lawrence Taylor and Sam Huff down here too, that would be great.

Actually, what the Giants' defense really needs is Jason Sehorn, circa 2000. Big Blue's secondary looks like a college team at this point, pointing fingers and waving arms at each other while opposing wideouts, running backs, waterboys and team mascots rack up receiving touchdowns in bunches.

The Giants have given up 122 points in their last three games -- all losses (you think?). In those games, opposing quarterbacks are 60-89 for 840 yards, eight touchdowns, one interception and a combined 122.9 quarterback rating. With safety Kenny Phillips out for the season and cornerback Aaron Ross well behind in rehabbing from a hamstring injury, the Giants are left with the likes of cornerback Kevin Dockery and safety C.C. Brown (who was the target of this recent gem from New York Times' writer Mike Tanier -- scroll to the third paragraph).

Barring injury, the next five quarterbacks the Giants will face are San Diego's Philip Rivers (over 2,000 yards passing in the first seven games); Atlanta's Matt Ryan (12 TDs); Denver's Kyle Orton (one INT all season); Dallas' Tony Romo (12 TDs); and Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb (four TDs against the Giants on Sunday). Wile E. Coyote had a better chance of success than the Giants' secondary has in the next month.

NEW YORK JETS: I can't figure these guys out. They have a shutdown defense and a killer running game, but they can't stop Mark Sanchez from throwing INTs. They're 1-0 against the Patriots but 0-3 against the Dolphins and Bills. They've allowed 16.8 points per game, fourth in the NFL, but they gave up three defensive/special teams touchdowns in one game and two in another. They're 4-4, but all the losses can be explained away. In one loss, they had the most rushing yards in defeat (318) since 1964. In another, they outgained their opponents 378-104 but allowed Ted Ginn to become the first player to return to kickoffs for touchdowns in the same quarter since 1967.

It makes my head hurt. Good thing Rex Ryan and his coaching staff have a bye week to sort it out.

NEW YORK KNICKS: The Knicks got their first win of the season Monday night, beating the New Orleans Hornets 117-111, so we'll put them ahead of the Rangers for one week (and one week only). Among other positives: Danilo Gallinari is off to a sizzling start, um, David Lee is still on the team, ummmmm.... did I mention Gallinari's hot start?

NEW YORK RANGERS: After two losses in a row, the Rangers basically got on the backs of their two stars and went for a ride Monday. Marian Gaborik, in his first game back from injury, has his 11th goal of the season, and Henrik Lundqvist had 29 saves in a 1-0 win over the Bruins. That'll only work for so long.

Game 4 Analysis: Anatomy of a two-out rally

How to turn a two-out, none-on, no-momentum ninth-inning situation into three runs, a 7-4 victory and a commanding 3-1 lead in the World Series:

1. Shake off the bad juju: The Yankees were either ahead or tied the entire game and held a tenuous 4-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Joe Girardi summoned Joba Chamberlain from the bullpen, and the mercurial righty got the dangerous Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez easily. With two out and none on, Joba got ahead of weak-hitting third baseman Pedro Feliz, 1-2, and was a pitch away from handing a lead to Mariano Rivera.

Then he got cute. Instead of blowing Feliz away with a high fastball, Joba threw consecutive breaking balls out of the zone, forcing him to go with a fastball in the strike zone on 3-2. Feliz was waiting for it and ripped a home run to left, tying the game at 4 and putting the pressure squarely on the Yanks.

But even though Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter started off the ninth with outs, the Yanks never appeared nervous or down. They kept the attitude that got them a league-best 103 wins in the regular season and playoff victories over the Twins and Angels: We're the best team in baseball, and we play all 27 outs.

2. Fight off your opponent's best shots and get something started: Matsui and Jeter were sent back to the dugout by Phillies' closer Brad Lidge, who blew two save opportunities against the Yankees in two days back in May. This time, Lidge was trying to keep the game tied and give Philly a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, when they would have the top of the their order against the aggressively mediocre Phil Coke.

With two out and none on, Lidge faced Johnny Damon, who quickly fell behind 1-2. The Phillies were one strike away from a chance for a come-from-behind win that would even the series -- and with ace Cliff Lee going in Game 5, give the Phils a decided advantage. Only Damon wouldn't back down. He fouled off a pitch, took two balls, and spoiled two 3-2 pitches to keep the at-bat alive. Lidge tried an outside fastball, and Damon took it to left field for a single.

3. Make a smart, heads-up play: Damon wasted no time making an impact on the bases, breaking for second on Lidge's first pitch to Mark Teixeira. The Yankee left fielder made it with time to spare, sliding in as the throw from Phillies' catcher Carlos Ruiz bounced in front of second.

FREEZE THIS MOMENT

(OK, so you're Johnny Damon. You slide into second, pick up your head and look around. Feliz is three feet away from you catching Ruiz's one-hop throw. And why is Feliz, a third baseman, catching the ball? Because the Phillies have the shift on for Teixeira, which means the shortstop and second baseman are both playing between first and second and the third baseman covers second on stolen base attempts. And what does that mean? There's no one between you and third base.

So what you do? You make a break for it.)

Damon took off, avoiding a desperate tag attempt by a stunned Ruiz and chugging into third as the Philadelphia crowd watched in horror. In theory, Lidge should have covered third base with the shift on, but the situation is so rare that you can't really blame him.

The move put Damon on third instead of second and had one very specific, very critical effect on the game. Basically, Lidge is a two-pitch closer. He has a mid-90s fastball and a sharp slider that breaks down, a pitch that baffles hitters but often ends up in the dirt. With a runner on third, any breaking ball in the dirt could lead to a wild pitch that scores Damon and ties the game.

So once Damon made his mad dash to third, the hard slider -- Lidge's best pitch -- was effectively removed from his arsenal. In other words, a pitcher with a history of blown saves was reduced to a one-pitch fastball machine. Two pitches later, Lidge plunked Teixeira in the elbow with a fastball, putting runners on the corner for Alex Rodriguez.

Oh, and A-Rod's been deadly on fastballs all postseason. And he hit a game-tying home run back off Lidge back in May -- on a fastball. Think Damon's dash was kind of important?

4. Get the big hit: A-Rod took the first fastball from Lidge for a strike. But with Lidge reduced to fastball after fastball, the 0-1 count was irrelevant -- A-Rod knew the next pitch was going to be another inside fastball. The Yankee slugger smashed it into the left field corner for a double, plating Damon and giving the Yanks a 5-4 lead.

It was only A-Rod's second hit in 14 World Series at-bats. But each one -- a two-run homer in Game 3 and the double off Lidge -- was huge.

5. Go for the jugular: The Yankees were back in front, but a 5-4 lead isn't exactly safe, even with Rivera coming in for the save. With Teixeira on third and A-Rod on second, Jorge Posada had a chance to give the Yanks some breathing room. Like Damon, Posada fell behind in the count, fouling off the first two pitches and facing an 0-2 hole. Like Damon, he battled back, taking two balls and taxing Lidge's patience. And like Damon, he lined a single to left center, scoring both runners. Posada was tagged out trying to advance to second, but the damage was already done, and Rivera walked to the mound with a 7-4 lead.


That's how it's done. We'll see if Lee and his electric stuff can get the Phillies over such a gut-wrenching loss. Otherwise, the Yankees may reverse Jimmy Rollins' pre-Series prediction and take it home in five.